Bubbles (Pt 6 of Puppy Dog Eyes series)
by Valenka
Summary: Cassandra's hormones are starting to get to her but not to worry, Jenkins is there to fix everything. This is literally an excuse for me to write some fluff.


Cassandra's cerulean orbs fluttered open to find light sneaking in via her and Jenkins' bedroom curtains, she had one arm thrown above her head on the pillow and her beloved immortal had propped himself up on an elbow with on hand on her domed stomach. It took her a moment but she eventually realised he was telling their baby a story, _Beauty And The Beast_ if she wasn't mistaken. How long he'd been talking to their child while she slept Cassandra didn't know but it was absolutely adorable, so she closed her eyes once more and pretended to be asleep; his voice was so soothing.

"... The beast had him by the neck held out over the ledge, oh how the beast wanted to drop the hunter and let him fall to his death. Gaston begged for his life, 'please, please don't kill me' he cried, 'please I want to live'. And the beast showed him mercy, set Gaston down and turned to Belle. She'd come back to him, she loved him. However, Gaston was the true monster, a vile and evil man who took the moment the Beast's back was turned to stab him with his dagger, just as he did though fate intervened and the rain covered ledge gave way and Gaston tumbled into the dark abyss. And since your Mother has woken up I think we'll have the Disney ending rather than the original."

Cassie chuckled as she gave up her guise of sleep and listened. She'd not thought it possible for her to love her knight anymore than she already did but waking up to that story had done it.

" _Beauty And The Beast_ is my favourite." She beamed sleepily.

Her hand slipped into his white-hair and raked through it slowly. Jenkins still had his hand on her twenty-four week belly so she covered it with her own.

"Finish the story then." She told him.

"Alright. The beast fell to the ground and Belle raced to his side where she pulled him into her arms and wept, her beast was dying but there is always hope. Just as the last rose petal fell she uttered those magical words, 'I love you' and she meant it. Belle loved him with all her heart and that broke the spell. The rain shot down in bursts of light and the Beast's body shed it's fur and morphed back into the form of a man. Belle watched through tears and shock as horns receded and the man who'd been locked on the inside finally emerged. Then, suddenly, he opened his eyes and the Beast was a Prince once more, and they all lived happily ever after. The end."

"How long have you been telling the baby stories while I'm asleep?" She asked with a grin.

"A while."

Said the Caretaker as he pressed a kiss to her belly and the baby kicked in response to his or her father. Cassandra watched that little half smile of his emerge before he shuffled back up the bed to cuddle his sweet redhead to his naked chest.

"I suppose we should start thinking about names for the baby. We can't just keep saying 'the baby' or 'the child' or 'the baby bow tie' as Ezekiel keeps insisting upon." She frowned at the last one, it irritated the immortal but secretly Cassandra thought it cute. "And do I get a kiss or just the baby?"

"Of course, My Love." Jenkins pressed his lips to the redheads, soft and gentle but full of undying love. "I love you."

"I love you too." She snuggled into his chest. "Seriously though, any name ideas? Not anything with a 'C' or a 'J' because that's us, not 'G' either since you're Galahad." She paused a moment, clearly sorting through the mass of thoughts travelling through her mind. "I don't want to just pluck something out of thin air either though. I don't know, maybe we should just make a list of names and circle the ones we both like. How do people normally do this?"

"I don't believe there is a set method, Sweetheart. And may I remind you, despite my age I am new to parenting. Perhaps a name will present itself once she is born."

"You still think the baby is a girl?" She'd never understood Jenkins' certainty.

The older man just smiled and rubbed his hand over her belly once more, that was his child inside her, he'd still not quite grown used to that.

"Are you hmm?" He asked the baby in that fatherly tone of his. "Are you a girl, little one?" There was another kick. "Ha, there you go, she told us herself."

"Or maybe it's just her turning over and going to sleep after Daddy's story." She countered.

"Ah, ah, ah, you said 'her'. And we cannot sit her all day, Sweetheart, you need to be the hero you are and I have experiments to tend to. I'll get dressed."

"But baby names-"

"There is time still, so worry not."

She watched him clamber out of bed and head to the closet in search of a suit, Cassandra loved the way he took such care to match his bow tie to his pocket square. Today's suit consisted of a dark navy barleycorn fabric with pale red bow tie and pocket square, Jenkins had always taken such pride in his appearance, all those perfectly tailored suits but Cassandra had always wondered what he'd looked like dressed in chain mail with a sword on his hip.

"Would you go down first and check that Ezekiel hasn't brought breakfast burritos again please, you know-"

Jenkins cut her off as he pulled his suspender up over his shoulders.

"I know, I know, it makes you 'wanna hurl like a drunken teenager'." He quoted and Cassandra couldn't help but chuckle at the man she loved.

Thankfully Ezekiel had learnt from the burrito incident. The Clippings Book had sent the Librarians and the Guardian off on a rather simple mission to reiterative the necklace of Harmonia – any women who wore it remain young forever, although they'd also suffer from great misfortune – from the middle of nowhere, Sweden; how it had ended up in Sweden they weren't entirely sure. They'd returned in just under forty minutes and Jenkins had taken it straight into the Library to be cataloged, however, when he returned the Knight found Cassandra storming off and the others giving her a wide birth.

"Jenkins, your girlfriend just turned into the Wicked Witch of the West, mate." Complained Ezekiel as he slumped down into the chair at Eve and Flynn's desk.

"Excuse me?"

Stone sighed. "She was doing her math thing and then just exploded at Jones."

"You two were talking a lot." Muttered Eve.

None of the information being provided to him was overly helpful and just left the Caretaker stood there with his back to the back door with an eyebrow raised. Suddenly Cassandra marched back in and up the stairs with a frown on her face.

"Are you alright?" Asked Jacob cautiously from beside Eve.

"Fine!" Growled the redhead. Cassandra pulled one of the books down from its stack, stomped back down the stairs and out the room once more.

"Really?" Questioned Jenkins with an unimpressed look on his face. "Are you new to women? This isn't Jeopardy, I'll take 'fine' for three hundred." Everyone just stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "She's a hormonal pregnant woman who is also a Synesthete and you two bickering -" He gestured to Stone and Jones. "- doesn't help. She needs food and a bubble bath, trust me."

With that Jenkins headed off in the same direction his darling Cassandra had gone leaving the others to stare at one another.

"How is he not scared of her right now?" Exclaimed the Aussie.

"Jenkins is immortal." Began Eve. "She can't kill him."

"She can still knee the poor bloke."

While the two remaining Librarians and their Guardian tried to pin point exactly what they'd done to anger the redhead so Jenkins went to his lab, Cassandra usually ended up there when she wanted some quiet.

"Come on, my love, I'll run you a bubble bath, let you relax." Jenkins told her calmly.

"I'm fine, Jenkins."

She practically barked but he just ignored that in favour of pulling the pregnant woman into a soft embrace, his chest was warm and inviting, in an instant Cassandra relaxed into his touch and let the stress drain out of her. He smelt of sandalwood and ink, of tea and something inherently him. Jenkins didn't speak, just stroked her soft red locks lovingly.

"Ezekiel just wouldn't shut up." She told him a time later. "Just kept going on and on about pizza, Eve was yelling at the Library again for setting her desk back to Flynn's preferences and Jake was thinking too loudly." Cassie sighed and melted further into his chest.

"Alas, maybe not a good idea to 'explode' at them for being themselves."

"You're right." She started. "Oh, God I bet they hate me now, don't they? I just started yelling and stormed out. You're right, I can't get mad at them for being them."

"Shush, my love, no one could ever hate you, especially not the three of them. You're too lovable and much too cute when you're angry."

That made her smile as she clung to him. He always made her feel better, Cassandra had started to wonder if it was the tone of his voice more than what he actually said. If she'd had him with her when she'd been told of her tumour her life could have gone very differently... _then again I was fifteen so that probably would have been a bit weird and illegal._

"Did you say something about a bubble bath?" Asked Cassandra into his chest.

"Ah, yes I did. There's chocolate ice cream as well if you'd like."

"I love you, you're so perfect. Best baby daddy ever!"

Jenkins had been in relationships before of course, with both men and women but he'd never believed anyone quite as much as he did Cassandra when she told him she loved him. God he loved her. The immortal Knight picked his Librarian up bridal style and carefully carried her up the back stairs to their rooms, she never took her face from his chest and he didn't make her.

"You really are amazing, you know?" She told him, her voice muffled by his waistcoat as he turned down the corridor to their rooms. "You're so good to me, Jenkins. I love you. You're baby loves you too."

"How could I possibly ask for more?"

It was true, Cassandra and their unborn child were everything to him, he couldn't die but if he could he'd have gladly done so for them. Some days he wondered how a woman so perfect had fallen for him but other days he didn't care, Cassandra had done and that was all he needed to know.

Jenkins sat her down on the bed so he could go and start running the water for her bath before returning to help her shed her clothing; a task she could have no doubt completed herself but Jenkins helped anyway. When she was free of every thread he took a quick moment to just look at her, beautiful porcelain skin and round with his child; he had to fight off a growl. The Caretaker carefully lifted his redhead into his arms once more and carried her into the bathroom where he set her down amongst the bubbles, the scent of Lavender filled her nose clearly there to sooth her.

"I'll get you your ice cream, Sweetheart."

Jenkins turned to leave but she grabbed hold of his sleeve with wet fingers and forced him to turn back.

"You could stay and cuddle us." She offered with a teasing smile.

"No, darling. This is about you and her relaxing not me." He bent down to press a kiss to the top of her head which only caused her to grin up at him with a glint in those heavenly cerulean orbs of hers. "I shall get you your ice cream and then be in the Annex if you need me."

"Uh-huh, thank you Jenkins. I needed this."

"Just doing my fatherly and boyfriendly duty."

The Knight still had issue with that word 'boyfriend' but in that particular instance he'd struggled to find a word as befitting, he was too old to be a boyfriend, hell a thousand years ago he'd been too old to be a boyfriend. Partner sounded better, _maybe I should have just left it at fatherly,_ muttered his mind. He couldn't stand there all day having an internal debate so Jenkins dimmed the lights for her and fetched her chocolate ice cream.

When he returned to the Annex he set about tinkering with the back door that but the feel of eyes on him was unnerving.

"Is Cassandra alright?" Asked Eve eventually from her and Flynn's desk; where that man had gotten to was a mystery.

"Yes, Colonel, she's settled now." Jenkins didn't look up from his black at the globe.

"You're really good with her, you sure you've never been a parent before?"

Jenkins felt Ezekiel perk up as though hoping for some juicy gossip but Stone just slapped him in the back of the head.

"I'm quite certain. However, over the years I have known a few pregnant women. Queen Guinevere for instance."

"Wait, wait, wait." Stone raced around the large main table and over to Jenkins with a look of utter disbelief on his face. "Arthur and Guinevere did actually have children? There's always been so little information that no one can really confirm one way or the other. Who was it? Lohot? Borre? Amr? God, tell me Nennius was right and he had a dog named Cabal. Did Arthur actually have three mistresses?"

Getting information out of Jenkins about Camelot was like pulling teeth with one's fingers and Stone leapt at the chance to get some real information. Jenkins however, just glared at the historian when he mentioned mistresses.

"No, Mister Stone, Arthur was devoted to Guinevere, there were never any mistresses. No dog either I'm afraid, his horse was Cabal. Nennius got practically everything wrong, I mean Arthur wouldn't have ever harmed his son. He and Guinevere only had one child, a boy named Lohot. And before you ask, no Kay did not kill him. The poor boy died of a fever when he was young and they never tried again."

Jacob beamed, this was the most information he'd ever gotten out of the Knight.

"Was Gawain really his nephew?"

Jenkins huffed and Stone knew he'd get no more answers.

"Jenkins, mate," began Ezekiel without looking up from his phone. "how long are you gonna be with the back door? I want lunch."

"Last I checked, Mister Jones, you have legs, you can walk."

Eve snorted at that and made no attempt to hide it. The thief huffed but eventually caved and walked to the deli.

About an hour after he'd started fiddling with the inner workings of the back door device Jenkins went back upstairs to check on his beloved Cassandra, he'd grown grumpy after Stone's questioning but the moment he entered the room to find a naked and still wet Cassandra leaving the bathroom his whole day brightened up.


End file.
